HBO: Game of Thrones

[DRW50]

Winding up season 2...

I'd forgotten how [!@#$%^&*] hot Matthos Seaworth was. Cute guy. I'd say he's on fire, but that would be in poor taste.

Blackwater was a much stronger episode than I'd expected it to be, as I'm not that into battle stuff. I can't say how it compares to the book battle, as I haven't read it (yet), but I thought they managed to capture many different POVs in a relatively short space of time. I am not a huge huge Tyrion fan (I like him but I don't worship him as some fans do), but I felt terrible (terribly?) for him here, where he truly stepped up to the plate, and then he was literally cut down as his father stormed in to save the day. Sorry for all the cliches.

Stephen Dillane does such a great job as Stannis, and his dourness. I was shocked when we saw a little emotion from him as he was led from battle kicking and screaming.

The only real complaint I have is that I didn't think The Hound's turn away from battle was built up well enough over the season. I assume he has deeply buried PTSD but I wish it had been a little more established. I also have to admit that I'm getting to the point where I really want someone to knock Bromm down a few pegs. I like Bromm, don't get me wrong, but it's just a little too much of, "He's so wise and so bad-ass" in every scene.

Cersei - I spent some of those hideaway scenes thinking, "Cersei is losing it again because she feels old and useless/she hates being a woman/she hates Sansa replacing her/she hates life," but then it hit me at the end that she was drunk and angry because she knew she would have to murder her son. Ouch. I can't say enough good things about Lena Headey's work. I was so bored of Cersei's meltdowns for the first 2/3 of this season but the last few episodes turned it around.

I also love the whole theme of whether Sansa will turn into Cersei (as Cersei seems to be trying her best to accomplish), or whether she will be her own person and keep some of her innocence and inner strength.

Jack Gleeson did a wonderful job in the scene where Joffrey went to hide on his mother's orders (deep down what he wanted to do anyway). His face was such a reminder that he truly is a child, and a very weak child.

So this is it for Lancel. I can't say I'll miss him, but I wonder what happened, as he wasn't killed off, and is still in the books. I wonder if something happened with the actor.

Edited April 14, 2014 by DRW50

[DRW50]

Jack Gleeson interview from last October. He's a funny guy (a very patient guy too, putting up with some of those fans demanding multiple photos...).

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[Juliajms]

But if you ever do read the books, I think you'll like them. They are much better (imo) because they have time to go into the sort of emotional depth that the show never can. Even the first scenes were the boys find the wolves are so much more nuanced in the books. I also think the mistakes the children are making are a lot more forgivable because they actually are children. Dany finds out she's pregnant on her 13th birthday. Jon and Rob are about 15. On the show they look about 25, that makes a huge difference, but I certainly understand why it was necessary.

I sympathize with people who need the show to truly adhere to the books though. It's just not possible for so many reasons. For the most part I don't sweat it, I just look at the show as an alternate universe. I'm glad I read the books first, but soon we're all going to be seeing the show before we've read the material, imo. Maybe that's for the best, so no one will be spoiled on the major mysteries of the series or how things end.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Interesting analysis on Cersei.... I didn't quite get associate the Tommen thing with her earlier hot mess scenes with Sansa but they may be a connection between em.

If/when you decide the books you'll def enjoy the 4th. Finally Cersei is a POV character and for me it was totally engrossing

[Vee]

I know a lot of people who seem to prefer the show to the books. I have no dog in that fight, I just watch the show and that's what I have time for these days. GRRM seems very happy with the changes so I'm good.

[rhinohide]

It was a bit long for me to watch in it's entirety at this time, but he is delightful!

[YRBB]

What an exquisite episode. Truly marvelous.

The stuff with Ramsay and Theon was very hard to watch. Theon is just a crushed, destroyed man and it's heartbreaking. Talk about redemption by way of total destruction.

The slight change in the situation with Shae didn't bother me because I don't believe she truly left. Which means the show can still do what happened in the book. Actually, all these extra scenes work better for me than the book because

The images Bran saw in his vision were terrifying. The destroyed, snowy throne room I recall seeing before but I'm not sure about the dragon flying over King's Landing or the white walker looking in the mirror and so on. Truly terrifying if that's a glimpse of the future in the show.

I didn't expect the wedding feast to last 21 minutes but it sure did and I loved every single moment of it. Everything set in King's Landing was so marvelously, gorgeously produced. And all the little details--Margaery's looks of disgust. Varys wanting to be anywhere else but there. Cersei's unstoppable hate for Tyrion. Sansa showing some support to her husband. Oberyn and Loras exchanging that sexy look. Olenna remaining expressionless and yet saying it all. Joffrey's slowly building boredom. The Brienne/Cersei exchange. And the death--oh, they made it just as painful and horrible-looking as I had hoped for! Just yes, yes, yes. And I felt for Cersei a little bit as she yelled, "Take him! Take him!"

Exciting to read everyone's guesses as to who is behind Joffrey's murder. The answer is fun!

Edited April 14, 2014 by YRBB

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Re the book GRRM is in it for the money at this point (not that I blame him) and God only knows what artistic license he gave them

At the end of the day I have accepted the fact the TV show is it's own alternate GoT universe and I refuse to acknowledge anything that occurs in it as cannon or having any potential impact on future books cuz to me that destroys all the great work that's come before

I'll get back to you later re Shae once I figure out how to use the spoiler tags haha

[quartermainefan]

The more I think about it, the more I think it might be Shae who did it. We never saw her get on the boat, she was hurt by Tyrion and she likes Sansa. Being a worker she probably had access to the staff who baked the pie. It would fit.

[DRW50]

Spoiler tags - just use the "[" bracket, then type spoiler, then the "]" bracket. Then type what you want to type, then put "

(without the quotation marks)

For instance,

[YRBB]

The showrunners on episode 4.2. Obviously, do NOT go anywhere near this if you are unspoiled/haven't watched yet. As always, great to hear their thoughts

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/13/game-of-thrones-showrunners-joffrey-wedding-interview/

[Cheap21]

The episode was practically spoiled for me when I saw people posting Twitter taglines #RoastJoffrey and there seemed to be overcelebration in anticipation of the episode. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it was about

I will say though that she looked gorgeous

[Vee]

Pretty sure I just had the culprit at the Purple Wedding spoiled for me by fuckin' Kotaku, in an article that was only labeled "don't read if you haven't seen Episode 2!" - and then proceeds to invoke expository [!@#$%^&*] from the books that we have yet to see on the show. Ugh.

I had a feeling based on what I saw in the premiere that one of the key elements of one of those last scenes might have something to do with what happened to Joffrey, but the !@#$%^&*] writer over there made it very, very explicit and labeled it as "spec". All I'll say is the information is all right there onscreen, but the motive isn't, yet. I'll definitely watch again.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Lol okay the pig thing definitely made me laugh out loud. It wasn't feasible and I believe them when they say that at least. I'll admit I was a little pissed about not seeing that lol.

[Juliajms]

I'm very curious as to who you think did it, because I think the motive couldn't be clearer. I'd go so far as to say the show dumbed it down, although it's always easier to say that in hindsight. Still, this is one area I'll stay away from since I do know who did it and if you told me who you think it is, it might end up in spoiling. I definitely think it's wrong for people to know an what happened to speculate in any way.